THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, March 31, 1995                 TAG: 9503310564
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                            LENGTH: Short :   44 lines

SETTLEMENT REACHED IN WIDOW'S SUIT AGAINST AMTRAK

A settlement was reached in a lawsuit brought by the estate of a man who died when an Amtrak train slammed into his truck at a railroad crossing.

The case on behalf of Barbara Chandler, widow of truck driver Sam Chandler and the administrator of his estate, was about to go to a U.S. District Court jury when the settlement was reached Wednesday night, said attorney James M. Boyd.

The jurors had heard three days of testimony.

Boyd, who represented Barbara Chandler, said the agreement required confidentiality. ``It was very satisfactory from our standpoint,'' he said.

David Bowen, the attorney for the defendants, confirmed that an agreement had been reached and that its terms could not be revealed.

The lawsuit against Amtrak and CSX Transportation Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., stemmed from an April 29, 1992, collision at a Newport News railroad crossing marked by a crossbuck sign but without flashing lights or a gate.

Chandler, a 61-year-old retired Richmond detective who lived in Middlesex County, was driving a dump truck loaded with sand along a road roughly parallel to the railroad track when he turned on a side road and began climbing a short but steep grade to cross the track.

Authorities believe Chandler either didn't see the approaching train, which had just left the Newport News station headed for New York City, or saw it too late to stop or to cross the tracks completely.

The impact killed Chandler and derailed the train, injuring 54 of 92 passengers aboard.

After the accident, authorities decided to eliminate the crossing and build another access to the industrial site where Chandler was headed.

The lawsuit contended that the crossing, which was maintained by CSX Transportation, was unsafe and that the Amtrak engineer failed to sound the train's whistle until seconds before the collision.

KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAIN SUIT TRIAL by CNB